Interesting to Know

I recently had someone ask me about using a refugium versus a sump filter on his 60 gallon aquarium. He is currently running a canister filter and considering his options. I’ll talk about the pros and cons of each filter, and what that means for the system. Canister filters Canister filters range from many sizes and styles. In general, they…

Someone recently posted a question about using some cured live rock from his friend’s tank. The short answer is of course you can, but there are definitely a few things to keep in mind when picking up some live rock that may have been around for a while. Here’s a list of things that I would suggest looking out for…

I recently took home a nice Zoanthid (zoo) rock, which was doing beautifully in the store where I got it, which shall remain nameless. After a few days in my tank, I began to notice there were small patches where the polyps were closed up. These patches were more like stripes, where there would be a path of closed polyps.…

Here’s a continuation of questions I get from customers considering saltwater aquaria. Is saltwater more work to maintain? Keeping a saltwater aquarium is not any more work than keeping a freshwater aquarium. In fact, it can be even less maintenance than keeping a freshwater planted aquarium. Things grow very slowly in a reef aquarium, so the need for frequent fertilization or supplementation…

What’s “the Cycle” and why is it so important? Everyone has heard the old story, “I filled my aquarium with fish, and they all died,” usually followed by “so now I don’t keep fish anymore.” There are plenty of ways to kill all of your fish, but not understanding the cycle is one of the most common ways I’ve come…

Keeping a tank is supposed to be fun and exciting, otherwise, we wouldn’t devote ourselves to keeping these keeping these things alive right? And one of the best parts of the hobby is getting something new for the tank. But a lot of times we may not have the right setup or the right skills to keep something, but of…